The husband of Feng Jianmei, the Chinese woman forced to have a late-term abortion, has gone into hiding and her family are being harassed, a relative has said.
Feng Jianmei was made to terminate her pregnancy at seven months as she could not pay the fine for violating China’s one-child policy.
Photos showing her with the foetus caused widespread condemnation when they were leaked on the web.
Officials apologized, but the couple is now apparently being hounded.
A relative of Feng Jianmei told reporters that the family had been harassed since leaving hospital, possibly with the tacit encouragement of local government officials who have been embarrassed by the scandal.
Feng Jianmei and her husband are being hounded since leaving hospital
She said Feng Jianmei’s husband Deng Jiyuan had gone into hiding on Sunday.
Pictures circulating on the internet appear to show a large red banner saying “beat the traitors, drive them from the town” strung up in the family’s town in Shaanxi province.
“On Sunday evening, we decided to go home [from hospital] and a lot of people had gathered outside,” the relative, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
“They hung banners on a bridge and many people came and shouted that we were traitors. Now wherever we go, people follow us.”
China’s one-child family planning policy aims to control the country’s population, which now stands at around 1.3 billion.
Rights groups say the law has meant women being coerced into abortions, which Beijing denies.
“Feng Jianmei’s story demonstrates how the one-child policy continues to sanction violence against women every day,” said Chai Ling of the US-based activist group All Girls Allowed.
The group says it spoke to Feng Jianmei and her husband Deng Jiyuan after the incident. Deng Jiyuan said his wife had been forcibly taken to hospital and restrained before the procedure.
The Spice Girls have reunited to launch Viva Forever!, a new West End musical based on their hit songs.
Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell helped unveil the show at a central London hotel on Tuesday.
“We’re going to be introducing a whole new generation to Girl Power,” Victoria Beckham said.
Written by Jennifer Saunders, the musical explores the “bitter reality of fame” brought by a TV talent show.
Viva Forever! opens at London’s Piccadilly Theatre on 11 December.
The show is the idea of Judy Craymer, producer of Abba musical Mamma Mia!, who described Jennifer Saunders as a “brilliant collaborator”.
“She understands the anxieties in women, the fear of judgment and trepidation that one day they get to a certain age and become invisible,” Judy Craymer said.
The launch event was held in the neo-Gothic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the location where the Spice Girls filmed the video for their breakthrough hit Wannabe in 1996.
Reunited on the same podium, the five ex-bandmates exchanged banter about Geri Halliwell’s exit from the group at the height of their fame in 1998.
Spice Girls have reunited to launch Viva Forever!, a new West End musical based on their hit songs
“I’ve got to say these girls are amazing and brilliant and loving,” said Geri Halliwell.
“Every time I see them, and I don’t see them that often, independently and collectively they’re really lovely. I’m really grateful to have good friends like this.”
“She’s only saying that because she left,” joked Melanie Chisholm, aka Mel C.
“To have our songs performed night after night in a theatre is an honor for us,” Melanie Chisholm went on.
“My little boy doesn’t know who were are, so I can’t wait for him to see this,” said Emma Bunton.
According to its producers, Viva Forever! is “the story of a beautiful, talented girl and her best friends who get swept up in the obsession of today’s TV celebrity culture”.
Judy Craymer said Saunders’ story would “embrace all generations”.
“We listened to Spice Girls songs for nine months non-stop,” she said.
“Jennifer came up with a heart-warming family story that touches on celebrity today.”
The show, Judy Craymer continued, was “very much about the chaos that a TV talent show can bring on a family and friendship”.
Jennifer Saunders, the writer of TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous, said both she and her daughters had been Spice Girls fans.
“I remember the joy and energy and positivity that they brought, and I wanted to bring that to the story,” she told reporters.
The musical will be directed by Paul Garrington, who has staged international productions of Mamma Mia! and Dirty Dancing.
Viva Forever! is the latest in a line of so-called “jukebox” musicals that use popular songs to score what is often a fresh storyline.
The commercial success of Mamma Mia! has helped fuel dozens of similar shows, such as Jersey Boys – featuring the hits of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons – and the Michael Jackson show Thriller Live.
Mamma Mia!, which opened in 1999, is booking in the West End until April 2013, while We Will Rock You, based on the music of Queen, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Yet other examples of the genre have enjoyed lesser success.
Despite winning an Olivier for best new musical, the Madness-based Our House closed in 2003 after 10 months in the West End.
The opening of Viva Forever! will coincide with that of The Bodyguard, a musical based on the 1992 Whitney Houston film that opens at the Adelphi in December.
The Spice Girls topped the charts in 31 countries with their 1996 debut single Wannabe and went on to sell more than 75 million albums worldwide.
The group created the 1990s mantra “Girl Power” and starred in their own feature film, Spiceworld, in 1997.
The Spice Girls disbanded in 2000 but reformed seven years later for a reunion tour.
Judy Craymer said she was “thrilled” the five had shown “so much encouragement and support” about a musical she insisted was “not a tribute show”.
“The positivity, energy, humor, excitement and friendships that encapsulated the Spice Girls and their songs have inspired the whole creative team,” she added.
Previews of Viva Forever! begin at the Piccadilly on 27 November.
Fifty Shades Of Grey by E.L. James has become the number one best-selling Kindle book of all time at Amazon.co.uk, it was revealed today.
Despite the trilogy only being published in March this year, the racy international best-sellers have sold over one million copies in the online store’s Kindle department, while author E.L. James has become the bestselling author of the year on the site as a whole.
E.L. James, originally a self-published Kindle Direct Publishing Author saw popularity of her book soar online after readers embarrassed to be seen with a hard copy of the racy tome preferred to buy online.
The Kindle edition of Fifty Shades of Grey is currently outselling the print book at a rate of more than 2 to 1.
Fifty Shades Of Grey by E.L. James has become the number one best-selling Kindle book of all time at Amazon.co.uk
“E.L. James’ books have become both the fastest-selling and the best-selling series ever on Kindle. That’s an exceptional achievement for a debut novelist and we’re excited to see her pass the one million sales milestone,” said Gordon Willoughby, spokesman for Kindle.
“Following a stint of self-publishing, first online and then via KDP, E.L. James found a fan base and her success has rocketed from there.
“Her books have become a worldwide phenomenon demonstrating what a powerful launch pad KDP can be.”
In addition to the sales success seen on Kindle, Fifty Shades Of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed are the first, second and third best-selling print books at Amazon.co.uk and their combined sales have also made her the best-selling print author of the year so far.
Sales of the book, the first in a trilogy, have overtaken the Harry Potter books and the Da Vinci Code, to the delight of not only E.L. James, but established romance writer Jilly Cooper.
Fifty Shades writer E.L. James, whose real name is Erika Mitchell has said she thinks her books are successful because they offer women a “holiday from their husbands”.
The biggest McDonald’s restaurant on the planet has been built in London, right in the middle of the Olympic park.
The vast two-storey restaurant will serve up to 1,200 customers an hour and sell $5 million of fast food during Olympic Games.
At 3,000 sq ft the building, next to the Olympic Stadium, is bigger than the current largest McDonald’s, in Moscow.
The Russian restaurant will regain its title on September 9, however, when the London branch is bulldozed after the Paralympics closing ceremony.
Yesterday McDonald’s gave the media a preview of its flagship store, which includes 20 till points and 1,500 seats.
It is one of four branches in the park, including two open to the public, one for the athletes and officials in the Olympic Village and one at the press centre.
Altogether they will serve 1.75 million meals in 29 days, with Britons accounting for an estimated 85% of customers.
The biggest McDonald’s restaurant on the planet has been built in London, right in the middle of the Olympic park
The main restaurant will offer some of the best views across the Olympic Park from its first-floor balcony, which can seat 150 customers.
It will be staffed by 500 of its top-performing employees from 85,000 in the UK, with 200 on a shift at any one time.
The global sponsor has been linked to the Olympics since 1968, when the company airlifted hamburgers to US athletes in Grenoble, France, after it was reported they were missing McDonald’s food.
But McDonald’s has been criticized for promoting the consumption of fast food at a time when people should be celebrating sports participation and healthy living.
It is estimated one in ten meals eaten at Olympic Games venues will be from McDonald’s.
Last week, members of the London Assembly said firms which sold junk food should not be linked to the Olympic Games. Cadbury and Coca-Cola are also sponsors.
Jenny Jones, a Green Party assembly member, said: “London won the right to host the 2012 Games with the promise to deliver a legacy of more active, healthier children across the world.
“Yet the same International Olympic Committee that awarded the Games to London persists in maintaining sponsorship deals with the purveyors of high calorie junk that contributes to the threat of an obesity epidemic.
“The advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar is already restricted on children’s television.
“These Games will subvert those regulations by providing a glut of sponsored messages for high calorie food and drink that are at odds with the Olympian athletic ideal.”
The restaurant will be McDonald’s first sustainable outlet and 75% of the building and fittings will be recycled or reused.
It is part of London 2012’s bid to be “the greenest Games ever”.
While the restaurants serve fast food to the hungry public, McDonald’s executives will be enjoying some of the top events from their corporate seats.
Yesterday, the firm admitted that global chief executive Jim Skinner and UK chief executive Jill McDonald, along with dozens of others, will enjoy corporate tickets to events such as the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics and swimming.
The restaurant will start trading on July 28, one day after the opening ceremony.
It will not open for the ceremony itself, which many VIP guests and heads of state are expected to attend, for “security reasons”.
Designer Jean Paul Gaultier has joined forces with Coca-Cola to become the latest member of the body art brigade.
As the newly-appointed creative director of Diet Coke, Jean Paul Gaultier has released the highly anticipated third design in a set of limited-edition bottles.
This quirky new design comes after her unveiled two stylish bottles named “Day” and “Night” which harbored all the design elements of his famous fragrances.
Designer Jean Paul Gaultier has joined forces with Coca-Cola to become the latest member of the body art brigade
The feminine corsets made an appearance in the “Night” design, while “Day” featured the Breton stripes that Jean Paul Gaultier has spent 35 years making his signature and conical bra as worn by Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour.
The latest edition bares a strong resemblance to the night-inspired bottle, showcasing a cheeky and risqué tattoo art in a corset shape.
The new bottle is available in Europe starting this month with a campaign shot by Stephane Sednaoui.
Coca-Cola is no stranger to designer collaborations and the bottles have been getting fashionable and collectable makeovers by fashion’s biggest names since 2003.
Jean Paul Gaultier is the latest in a long line of designer predecessors who include Matthew Williamson, Gianfranco Ferre, Marni, Karl Largerfeld and Roberto Cavalli.
Celebrities each have their own secret weapon against cellulite, according to Heat magazine.
For Frankie Essex it is Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula, which she applies every time she gets out of the bath.
Katy Perry swears by Celluvera cream. At a pricey $72 per bottle, Katy Perry uses the cream as a boost to exercise to banish the bumps.
And Alesha Dixon keeps her orange peel at bay with a miracle cure known as Hypoxi Vacuum Therapy, which is a combination of exercise, improved diet and targeted low atmospheric pressure to help reduce cellulite around the buttocks.
Alesha Dixon is also an avid fan of a juice cleanser containing carrot, ginger and beetroot which she ensures is freshly made using unpasteurized juices that help detox her body.
The celebrities also follow the tried and tested methods of beating cellulite. From dry body brushing to staying well hydrated.
Madonna even invested in a machine that claimed to be the ultimate weapon in our war against cellulite, she paid a whopping $80,000 to have one installed in her home.
Frankie Essex is a huge fan of Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula as a weapon against cellulite
The stars’ cellulite-busting tips:
• Frankie Essex is a huge fan of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula
• Katy Perry swears by Celluvera cream
• Alesha Dixon detoxes by drinking a juice cleanser
• Kate Moss gets her antioxidants in the form of white tea
• Miranda Kerr dry body brushes religiously to keep in shape
• Jennifer Lopez’s anti-cellulite staple comes in the form of spinach (and lots of it!)
Famous for her killer legs, Caroline Flack finally reveals her secret, which comes in a tiny bottle, MAC body foundation.
The 32-year-old Xtra-Factor presenter gives her legs a beauty boost with MAC body foundation.
At $33 a bottle, Caroline Flack makes good use of the product and spreads it all over her body to give her an all-round glow.
The water-based, water-resistant foundation prides itself on providing natural coverage for your face and body.
It contains several emollients to help moisturize and condition the skin.
Caroline Flack revealed her secret to Heat Magazine: “I put it everywhere, not just my face. It work. My legs get attention.”
Although Caroline Flack is regularly spotted donning barely-there shorts, the star is not without her insecurities.
Caroline Flack gives her legs a beauty boost with MAC body foundation
“I do have cellulite, but running really helps me tone up. I work with what nature gave me!” she said.
Her trainer, who goes by the name of Ulisses and works at Reebok Sports Club, helps Caroline Flack tone up her legs and exercises include step-ups on a box and power plate sessions to work the back region of the legs.
It’s not just Caroline Flack who feels insecure about her cellulite either. According to Heat, celebrities each have their own secret weapon.
For Frankie Essex it is Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula, which she applies every time she gets out of the bath.
Katy Perry swears by Celluvera cream. At a pricey $72 per bottle, Katy Perry uses the cream as a boost to exercise to banish the bumps.
And Alesha Dixon keeps her orange peel at bay with a miracle cure known as Hypoxi Vacuum Therapy, which is a combination of exercise, improved diet and targeted low atmospheric pressure to help reduce cellulite around the buttocks.
Alesha Dixon is also an avid fan of a juice cleanser containing carrot, ginger and beetroot which she ensures is freshly made using unpasteurized juices that help detox her body.
The celebrities also follow the tried and tested methods of beating cellulite. From dry body brushing to staying well hydrated.
Madonna even invested in a machine that claimed to be the ultimate weapon in our war against cellulite, she paid a whopping $80,000 to have one installed in her home.
The stars’ cellulite-busting tips:
• Frankie Essex is a huge fan of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula
• Katy Perry swears by Celluvera cream
• Alesha Dixon detoxes by drinking a juice cleanser
• Kate Moss gets her antioxidants in the form of white tea
• Miranda Kerr dry body brushes religiously to keep in shape
• Jennifer Lopez’s anti-cellulite staple comes in the form of spinach (and lots of it!)
Rapper 50 Cent has been hospitalized after being involved in a serious car accident in New York City in the early hours of this morning.
50 Cent, 36, was taken to Queens hospital with possible injuries to his neck and back after a collision between his SUV – which was being driven by someone else – and a Mack truck on the Long Island Expressway.
According to fan site ThisIs50.com, the incident occurred when a red truck rear-ended his bullet proof vehicle and it “almost flipped over”.
50 Cent – real name is Curtis Jackson – and was put on a stretcher and taken to the nearby medical facility, along with his driver.
50 Cent has been hospitalized after being involved in a serious car accident in New York City in the early hours of this morning
A source close to the rapper has revealed both the star and his driver are recovering well.
The insider told XXLMag.com: “He’s fine,” and when asked about the driver added: “He’s good.”
It’s not the first time 50 Cent has been at Queens this year after he was previously hospitalized due to a bad bout of food poisoning.
50 Cent said at the time: “Eminem called and said, <<Man, you been shot nine times, don’t f**k around and die over a burger>>.
“He called and started making me laugh and s**t, and I wasn’t feeling good. So I just started to laugh, and he cheered me up when I was feeling uncomfortable.”
50 Cent famously survived a brush with death in 2000.
The former drug dealer was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident outside his grandmother’s former home.
50 Cent is understood to be single following a fling with comedian Chelsea Handler last year.
The persons who share an ancestor, a homeland, a heritage that includes language, culture (often including traditions, food preferences and the same religion) can be called ethnic group. The group is recognized as being distinctive from other groups. The young members become conscious of belonging to that ethnic group as they grow up, they seek the other members’ approval, and often they are proud to be part of that group.
A group of persons with the same language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history can be called nation. Also the people who live on the same territory and under the same government, no matter what ethnicity they have, may be called nation. A country or a sovereign state may be referred to as nation in international relations.
Being part of a political, social, national community (a country or a city) makes a person a citizen. A person without a citizenship is stateless. However, trade organizations, non-governmental organizations, multi-national corporations, cross the national and geographical boundaries and a person can be “citizen of the world”, having the sense, being conscious of belonging to the entire mankind.
The state of being a citizen, or the citizenship, implies a number of rights and obligations.
Generally, the citizenship implies a social contract between the community (through certain representatives, the state) and the citizen. The citizen is entitled to receive protection from the community, and in the same time he or she has responsibilities (to obey the law, to pay taxes, to vote).
Citizenship is viewed as a link between an individual and a state in the eyes of law. International law sees citizenship as synonymous to nationality, but these terms may have different meanings under national law.
Citizenship can be obtained through jus sanguinis (“right of blood”) policy and through jus soli (“right of soil”) policy. Jus sanguinis implies a certain ancestry or ethnicity. Through jus soli policy anyone born on the territory of the state can obtain citizenship. Also there is a hybrid birthright requirement of local nativity and citizenship of at least one parent. Citizenship can also be obtained through jure matrimonii (marriage to a citizen), or through naturalization (holding a legal status as a full-time resident for a period of time and promise to obey and uphold country’s laws). The dual citizenship is allowed, or forbidden, depending on the state’s law.
Every human being needs to be a part of a group. The group, no matter its size, can provide protection, and recognition, satisfying the person needs. Also a person wants to be similar to, yet different from other persons. You cannot choose where to be born, but you can choose where to live on the Earth. In modern times, the terms of ethnicity, nationality, and citizenship are beginning to loose their strong significance and although ethnicity cannot be change, one can choose his/her nationality.
John Travolta was putting on a brave front with his wife Kelly Preston at the premiere of Savages in Los Angeles last night.
The pair could not keep their hands off each other, and shared a smooch as they hammed it up for the event’s photographers.
John Travolta, 58, even playfully spun Kelly Preston, 49, around and put his hands around her waist as they lapped up the attention.
He certainly seemed relaxed, even though it had just been announced that a sailor who had accused him of sexual harassment is now suing him for assault.
John Travolta was putting on a brave front with his wife Kelly Preston at the premiere of Savages in Los Angeles last night
The simmering scandal heated up last month, when John Travolta was hit with two lawsuits from male masseurs claiming the actor made sexual advances towards them during massages – though one claim was later withdrawn.
Despite various other people coming out of the woodwork making similar claims John Travolta has not addressed the allegations directly, though his legal team has strenuously denied them.
It also emerged last week author Robert Randolph is alleging in a new lawsuit the actor and his attorney, Marty Singer, made false claims about his mental health in a bid to bring the writer’s credibility into question.
He claims they managed to stop his book You’ll Never Spa in This Town Again, in which he made explosive claims he witnessed Travolta engaged in sexual intercourse with other men at various bathhouses, from making it onto the shelves.
However John Travolta’s lawyer said the pair is intending to sue Robert Randolph’s attorney’s for malicious prosecution.
Last night’s event was not the first time John Travolta has been put on a brave face.
For he has been honoring promotional duties for his first movie since 2010, which is about a violent feud between marijuana growers and a Mexican drug cartel, even though he is not considered one of the film’s lead actors.
John Travolta plays a corrupt DEA agent named Dennis in the film, who ends up getting dragged into the affair.
Devout Scientologist, John Travolta has been married to Kelly Preston since 1991.
Their oldest child Jett died in 2009 at the age of 17 and they have two other children Ella Blue, 11, and 23-month-old Benjamin.
Mac users booking hotels on the Orbitz travel site could end up paying more for their holidays, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Orbitz told the paper it was showing Mac users different, and in many cases more expensive, hotels to those shown to people browsing on a Windows PC.
Orbitz said research suggested Mac users generally spent about 30% more per night on hotels than PC users.
But it never showed the two user groups the same room for different prices.
Mac users booking hotels on the Orbitz travel site could end up paying more for their holidays
Orbitz defended its policy as an “experiment” and said tools on its site let users customize what they saw in a way that would eliminate the differences.
Research into different user groups on the Orbitz site had revealed Mac users were 40% more likely to book a four- or five-star hotel than those logging in with a PC, it said.
In addition, it noticed, when Mac and PC users visited the same hotel the Windows users tended to go for the cheaper rooms.
The average nightly spend on a hotel was $100, Orbitz said.
Orbitz also owns the CheapTickets, ebookers, HotelClub and RatesToGo website.
The secret of Kate Middleton’s face-framing look is a modest £15.50 ($24) Bobbi Brown eye shadow powder from Peter Jones store make-up counter.
Duchess of Cambridge has learnt to use the product, from a range by make-up artist Bobbi Brown, to create the impression of thicker, darker, more luxuriant brows.
Kate Middleton, who has apparently long been concerned about her fair and slightly patchy eyebrows, is a frequent visitor to the Bobbi Brown counter at the Peter Jones store in London’s Sloane Square.
It is understood that staff taught her to apply a deep brown shadow in a shade called “saddle” with a slanted make-up brush to “fill-in” her “thinning” brows.
Kate Middleton is, by all accounts, delighted with her new look, feeling that the darker brows frame her face and make her eyes stand out.
But while Kate may have changed her look, it seems she has retained her down-to-earth approach.
The secret of Kate Middleton’s face-framing look is a modest £15.50 ($24) Bobbi Brown eye shadow powder from Peter Jones store make-up counter
Although she could simply summon the country’s top make-up artists to Kensington Palace, she picked up the eyebrow technique during a highly public – and free – make-up lesson on the shop floor.
Sitting on a stool at the bustling make-up counter, Kate Middleton listened intently while a beauty adviser gave her a step-by-step lesson. Other shoppers walked by oblivious as the pair chatted about everything from eye cream to facial corrector and a creamy concealer she has become a fan of.
Kate, 30, confided that she worries about lines and dark shadows making her look old.
To make sure she looks her best at high-profile events, she invested in a top secret “three set” anti-wrinkle set, which includes a £28 ($44) eye cream, a £17($27) facial corrector and a pot of concealer for £23 ($36).
And like most women, she couldn’t resist picking up a few extra goodies while she was there – a £15 ($24) lip liner pencil in “brownie pink” which she was told to apply all over her lips, rather than just on the edges, as a base for her lipstick.
She also bought a pinky £18 ($28) lipstick called “sandwash tulle” from the same range.
Kate Middleton’s cache came to £116.50 ($186.5).
An insider said: “In her position she has to look good and can’t be seen at posh events touching up her make-up.
“She said she has a lot of events coming up and wanted to look her best during a big tour of the South Pacific she has later this year.
“What was most remarkable, though, was that none of the other shoppers recognized the Duchess as she sat there having her make-up lessons.
“Her bodyguards were very discreet and she looked just like any other young woman popping in to pick up a few free tips.”
Facebook has taken it upon itself to change its 900 million users’ email address and replace it with one that ends in “@facebook.com”.
The changeover happened on Monday, with each individual’s personal email account being hidden in place of the one Facebook thinks you should use.
It means that anyone who searches for you on Facebook and wanted to send an email will now only be able to see @facebook.com – unless you manually revert.
This means the email will come via Facebook messages instead of another account.
Technology blogs lit up after outraged users noticed the change had occurred.
“Don’t do this again,” wrote Gizmodo while Forbes.com declared it “presumptuous”.
Facebook has taken it upon itself to change its 900 million users' email addresses and replace it with one that ends in “@facebook.com”
Facebook claimed the change is to protect users’ privacy and security by not displaying a personal email address but the site’s more generic one.
A spokesman said: “As we announced back in April, we’ve been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site.
“In addition to everyone receiving an address, we’re also rolling out a new setting that gives people the choice to decide which addresses they want to show on their timelines.”
It is not the first time Facebook has pulled a “Big Brother” move on social network users.
Anyone who uses Facebook is already turning over reams of sensitive personal information to large companies every day.
There has been much criticism of Facebook’s changeover to the Timeline profile – drawing complaints that it makes past activity more easily accessible.
Facebook also launched a new feature this week which uses the GPS signal in cell phones to help you find friends – and potential new friends – nearby.
The “Friendshake” feature will allow you to make friends with people who are close by. The time-saving feature means that, if you meet a group of new people, you can all use this for one-touch friendship, rather than manually finding out each person’s name and separately adding them.
Some users may find this a boon to easily connect with new acquaintances, while others may see this as an invasion of privacy and way for unwanted people to get your attention.
However, the feature is currently one you have to manually turn on, by visiting http://www.fb.com/ffn – the last letters are an acronym for Find Friends Nearby.
When you enter the URL into your mobile browser, Facebook will provide a list of others who have visited the same page recently in the same area. A quick click will then add you as friends.
How to change your email address back:
1. Go into the “About” section of your profile
2. Where the email address is displayed, click “Edit”
3. Click on the circle along from the @facebook.com address
4. Change setting to “hidden from timeline”
5. Click on circle next to other email address and choose “shown on timeline”
When Eric and Maegan Walber fell into the water during their wedding photoshoot on a dock at the Bay Pinte Inn, Eric Walber swam for shore, rather than rescuing his dunked bride.
The entire bridal party got a soaking when a dock at the Bay Pointe Inn on Gun Lake in Shelbyville, Michigan, collapsed.
However, the new Mrs. Walber gracefully took it in her stride and laughed.
Her only concern was a falling down gown and finding her footing while wearing the heavy dress.
The entire bridal party got a soaking when a dock at the Bay Pointe Inn on Gun Lake in Shelbyville, Michigan, collapsed
“I came up laughing,” she told 24 Hour News 8.
“I was like, <<Oh, man, that really just happened. I can’t believe that actually just happened>>. Your wedding party falls into a lake at your reception. You can’t plan that,” she said with a laugh.
Thankfully, her modesty was protected by a bridesmaid, who also tried to steady her friend.
The scene was captured by Anne Oppenhuizen of Inspiration Video.
The wedding party had just finished eating dinner when the photographer told them that if they wanted photos on the lake, now was the time to go.
“We were out there for probably 30 seconds, standing on the dock, and it started to lean and tilt,” said Eric Walber.
“We went right under,” he added.
Afterwards, the soaking wet bridal party got a standing ovation from other diners at the restaurant.
And Maegan Walber’s evening wasn’t completely ruined as she had the dress that she’d worn to the rehearsal dinner the night before to change into.
Baby boxes, where parents can leave an unwanted baby, common in medieval Europe, have been making a comeback over the last 10 years.
Supporters say a heated box, monitored by nurses, is better for babies than abandonment on the street – but the UN says it violates the rights of the child.
It is an unlikely scene for the most painful of dramas. On the edge of a road in a leafy suburb of Berlin, there is a sign pointing through the trees down a path. It says “Babywiege” – Baby Cradle.
At the end of that path, there is a stainless steel hatch with a handle. Pull that hatch open, and there are neatly folded blankets for a baby. The warmth is safe and reassuring. There is a letter, too, telling you who to call if you change your mind.
“Dear Mother of a Foundling,
“We know that the step of giving away your child wasn’t easy for you. We want you to be sure that we are full of love for your baby and will give the best start in life within our power. And the baby should have the chance to live.
“Should you change your decision and want your baby back, return to us with full trust. We will gladly help you and it pleases us when Mother and Child can remain together. Even if you don’t, we will still help you with advice. You should know that you should not worry about having the police seeking you. Call us. We’re there for you.
“Be aware that one day your child will want to know the name of its mother. We’ll be pleased to help when you want to leave this information with us.”
About twice a year, someone – presumably a woman – treads that path at the secluded rear of Waldfriede Hospital and leaves the baby, perhaps born in secret only a few hours earlier.
That person – presumably the mother – then turns and walks away, never to see the baby again. The baby grows, but never gets to know who his or her mother was.
The word “presumably” is used because the process is secret and anonymous, so nobody knows who the people are who make that walk, carrying a baby to reverse their steps without one.
So one of the arguments made by those who condemn the system is that it may well be men who are giving the baby away, dumping him or her seems too hard a word. The critics say that baby boxes may be used by unscrupulous fathers or even controllers of prostitutes to put pressure on mothers to dispose of an unwanted baby.
Baby boxes, where parents can leave an unwanted baby, common in medieval Europe, have been making a comeback over the last 10 years
On this argument, by making it so easy to get rid of a baby, mothers are less likely to get the real help they need in their situation of great emotional trauma and even physical risk.
It is an argument the people who set up baby boxes reject. They say, rather, that they are offering desperate mothers a safe way to get rid of their unwanted babies. Those who don’t walk the path to the baby box might instead leave the baby in the biting cold of a public place.
Or, worse. A court case has just finished in Germany where a mother was prosecuted for killing her baby by throwing it from a fifth-floor balcony.
This kind of case is giving a push to the movement for more baby boxes across Central and Eastern Europe, from the Baltic states, down through Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, to Romania. The law in some countries encourages their spread – in Hungary, for example, it was changed so that leaving a baby in the official baby box was deemed to be a legal act amounting to consent to adoption, while dumping a child anywhere else remains a crime.
The proponents don’t accept that for a moment. Gabriele Stangl, of Waldfriede Hospital in Berlin, said that baby boxes save lives, and so increase rights.
At the box in Berlin, she said, there was safety backed by the full facilities of a maternity unit. Once a baby is in the hatch, an alarm rings and medical staff comes, even as the mother walks away unseen. The baby is cared for in the hospital and then fostered before going into the legal system for adoption. In the early period, mothers can return and retrieve their child, but later they can’t – adoption is final.
But some mothers do return. One mother said how she had been in despair when her child was born. The father was absent, and she was young and in a state of numb shock, so she took the route down the path – and then changed her mind barely a week later.
She followed the advice in the letter she had found in the hatch and returned. She said that, for the first time, she had realized it was her baby. She noticed his hair and eyes, and realized she couldn’t give him away. Today, she returns to the unit with pictures of the child she now brings up. The baby box had given her time for her confusion to clear.
It’s hard to know the full figures of how many relent – the critics of the system say that in Germany it is well-appointed, with the best facilities, but in some of the poorer countries to the east, baby boxes are less well organized.
But at one baby box in Hamburg, for example, there have been 42 babies left in the last 10 years. Seventeen of those mothers have then contacted the organizers, and 14 have taken back their child.
Steffanie Wolpert, one of the organizers of the system in Hamburg, says it has to be better than providing no facilities at all.
“In 1999, we had five babies abandoned and three of them were found dead.
“So we thought about this situation, and why it happened, and found a new way to help children to stay alive.”
But the critics, like the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, are not convinced. They say that baby boxes are a throwback to the past when the medieval church had what were called “foundling wheels” – round windows through which unwanted babies could be passed.
Maria Herczog, a child psychologist who is on the committee, said that a better alternative, now as then, was more understanding and help for mothers in difficult circumstances.
“They send out the mistaken message to pregnant women that they are right to continue hiding their pregnancies, giving birth in uncontrolled circumstances and then abandoning their babies.”
There is no clear right or wrong in this. It is an argument between well-meaning people. The one voice never heard is that of the mother who walks the path with the baby she bore secretly hours earlier, to return without the bundle. Her tears can barely be imagined.
Angelina Jolie is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world.
But even Angelina Jolie took time to grow into the features that have inspired admiration and envy from corners of the globe.
Her pillow lips and deep set eyes impossible to miss, the actress is not so unlike other awkward school girls in one of several newly-unearthed photos from her past.
The rebellious daughter of actor Jon Voight became a model in her teens while she was studying drama.
Angelina Jolie is not so unlike other awkward school girls in one of several newly-unearthed photos from her past
Before she started her movie career in music videos – most notably for the Rolling Stones and Meatloaf – Angie Voight, as she was then known, went through her own growing pains.
At 14, she was reportedly permitted to move in into her mother Marcheline Bertrand’s Los Angeles home with her older boyfriend, and later dropped out of acting classes at Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.
Photos of Angelina Jolie at that time show bright-eyed young girl who fancied polka dot headbands, satin dresses and wore little make-up.
Even then, however, she seemed to have perfected her trademark pout.
Staring at the camera in one rebellious photograph, Angelina Jolie appears bored in class. Her long brunette locks tumbling down her back, she already looks beyond her 14 years.
Angelina Jolie eventually returned to her theatre studies, and graduated from Beverly Hills High School.
Photos of the star – minus her trademark tattoos – show her a bit taller, but with the same wide smile and mahogany hair as she joins her classmates and friends for photos.
The images are positively demure compared to what was to come in the following years as she rose to fame: an intimate kiss with her brother James Haven, a bisexual relationship with a Calvin Klein model Jenny Shimizu, and of course wearing a vial of her then-husband Billy Bob Thorton’s blood around her neck on the red carpet.
Angelina Jolie as of late seems to have tamed her wild child ways, however.
The actress has successfully transformed herself into a box-office star and woman of the world as an actress, director, model, humanitarian and mother-of-six with partner Brad Pitt. .
Angelina Jolie, now 37, seems to have mastered how to have it all.
Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie is juggling her multiple roles as she begins filming her latest movie, Maleficient – an adaptation of Disney’s 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty.
Three policemen have been killed in a shootout with two other officers at Mexico City’s main airport.
Officials say those shot dead were attempting to arrest the two officers who are suspected of involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring.
Passengers dived for cover when the suspected traffickers opened fire, killing two officers immediately and injuring a third who later died.
The two suspects escaped and are being sought by the authorities.
Officials said they had spent 18 months investigating corrupt federal and local officials who they suspect are part of a drug trafficking ring operating at the airport.
Three policemen have been killed in a shootout with two other officers at Mexico City's main airport
The area was sealed off immediately after the incident but flights were reported to be operating normally in and out of the airport.
“When the alleged perpetrators were surrounded by the police, shots were fired against the federal agents,” a security ministry statement said.
The two officers have been identified, authorities said.
Eyewitness Israel Lopez told the Associated Press news agency: “We were in the food court, and some policemen came in and started shooting at another policeman who was on the floor.”
Shootings in public spaces in broad daylight remain rare in the capital, which has been largely insulated from the violence seen elsewhere in the country.
Though traffickers use the capital’s main airport to move drugs, money and illegal migrants and have seized 440 lb (200 kg) of cocaine there so far this year, violence related to drug trafficking seldom occurs in passenger areas.
Reuters reports that gang violence has been growing in Mexico City and its suburbs, with around 300 gang-related murders last year.
British researchers are to begin a study to find out if stress can trigger dementia.
The investigation, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society, will monitor 140 people with mild cognitive impairment or “pre-dementia” and look at how stress affects their condition.
The researchers will take blood and saliva samples at six-monthly intervals over the 18 months of the study to measure biological markers of stress.
They hope their work will reveal ways to prevent dementia.
The results could offer clues to new treatments or better ways of managing the condition, they say.
British researchers are to begin a study to find out if stress can trigger dementia
People who have mild cognitive impairment are at an increased risk of going on to develop dementia – although some will remain stable and others may improve.
And past work suggests mid-life stress may increase a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
A Swedish study that followed nearly 1,500 women for a period of 35 years found the risk of dementia was about 65% higher in women who reported repeated periods of stress in middle age than in those who did not.
Scottish scientists, who have done studies in animals, believe the link may be down to hormones the body releases in response to stress which interfere with brain function.
Prof. Clive Holmes, from the University of Southampton, who will lead the study, said: “All of us go through stressful events. We are looking to understand how these may become a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s.
“Something such as bereavement or a traumatic experience – possibly even moving home – are also potential factors.
“This is the first stage in developing ways in which to intervene with psychological or drug-based treatments to fight the disease.
“We are looking at two aspects of stress relief – physical and psychological – and the body’s response to that experience.”
Dr. Simon Ridley, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “We welcome any research that could shed new light on Alzheimer’s disease and other causes of dementia.
“Understanding the risk factors for Alzheimer’s could provide one piece of the puzzle we need to take us closer to a treatment that could stop the disease in its tracks.”
NATO members will meet in emergency session after Syria shot down Turkish F-4 Phantom warplane.
The act is condemned by Turkey as a “serious threat” to regional peace.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, Turkey described the incident as a “hostile act by the Syrian authorities against Turkey’s national security”.
Turkey’s deputy prime minister said it “would not go unpunished”, but stressed it was not seeking military action.
Damascus insists the F-4 Phantom jet was shot down inside Syrian airspace.
In the letter to the Security Council, Ankara said the shooting down of its F-4 reconnaissance plane was “a serious threat to peace and security in the region”.
The letter does not ask the council to take any action.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to outline his next step when he addresses parliament on Tuesday.
NATO members will meet in emergency session after Syria shot down Turkish F-4 Phantom warplane
Turkey, a NATO member, has requested a meeting of the alliance’s ambassadors in Brussels after invoking Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which entitles any member state to request consultations if it believes its security is threatened.
This is believed to be only the second time in NATO’s history that a member state has invoked Article 4. In 2003, Turkey asked for NATO assistance to ensure its security in the run-up to the Iraq war.
A NATO official quoted by AP news agency said Turkey’s NATO envoy would inform other ambassadors of the details of the incident at Tuesday’s meeting.
The envoys are then expected to discuss Turkey’s concerns but not decide on anything specific, said the official.
The North Atlantic Council – which consists of ambassadors from all 28 NATO countries – works by consensus and all members must approve any action.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc, speaking after an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, called the shooting down of the jet “a hostile act of the highest order”.
He vowed that Syria would “not go unpunished” but added that Turkey had “no intention” of going to war.
“We don’t believe warmongering or provoking the crowds by being righteous is the right thing to do. What needs to be done will be done within a legal framework,” he said.
Tensions between Syria and Turkey rose even higher on Monday when Turkey accused its neighbor of firing on another of its planes.
Bulent Arinc said the CASA search and rescue plane – which had been looking for the F-4 Phantom jet – was not brought down.
He said the Syrians stopped firing after a warning from the Turkish side.
Ankara has said the jet strayed into Syrian airspace by mistake last Friday but was quickly warned to change course by Turkish authorities and was one mile (1.6 km) inside international airspace when it was shot down.
Syria said it was unaware that the plane belonged to Turkey and had been protecting its air space against an unknown intruder.
But in its letter to the UN Security Council, Turkey says that intercepted radio communication shows that Syrian units were fully aware of the circumstances of the flight.
Relations between the two countries were already highly strained before the F-4 was shot down.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been outspoken in his condemnation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose government he accuses of brutally putting down opposition protests.
Microsoft confirms it has bought the office social network site Yammer for $1.2 billion.
The business, which is four years old and has five million users, operates like Facebook for communication within companies.
There had been reports the two were talking about a deal but Microsoft only confirmed the plan on Monday.
Yammer is used by firms including the motor giant Ford and the business services firm Deloitte.
Microsoft confirms it has bought the office social network site Yammer for $1.2 billion
Microsoft hopes the acquisition will make its range of software products more appealing.
Last year it bought the communications business Skype and is integrating it into its products, including its Office software which contributed 60% of its profits last year.
Yammer plans to continue to offer its service in the way it does currently.
Yammer’s chief executive David Sacks said: “When we started Yammer four years ago, we set out to do something big.
“We had a vision for how social networking could change the way we work. Joining Microsoft will accelerate that vision and give us access to the technologies, expertise and resources we’ll need to scale and innovate.”
Fellow inmates locked up alongside Jerry Sandusky reportedly taunted him by singing “Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone” – a line from Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall – while he was awaiting trial.
Jerry Sandusky, who has returned to the Centre County Correctional Facility after being convicted of 45 out of 48 charges of child sex abuse, was first locked up in the jail last December.
While there, inmates taunted the disgraced Penn State football coach when the lights went out.
“At night, we were singing <<Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone>>,” one 22-year-old offender named Josh told The Daily.
Prisoners were banned from speaking directly to Jerry Sandusky, who was in a special unit reserved for sex offenders or people with mental illnesses.
Jerry Sandusky, who has returned to the Centre County Correctional Facility after being convicted of 45 out of 48 charges of child sex abuse, was first locked up in the jail last December
They were aware of his offenses as they had access to television and newspapers, Josh added.
It suggests the hostile welcome Jerry Sandusky could have expected when he returned to the jail last week as he awaits sentencing.
The revelations come after Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of using his position at Penn State to coerce children into sex, raping them on university grounds or at his home.
But as he faces 442 years in prison, his legal team has raised an argument about his speedy trial that may become the thrust of an appeal.
Jerry sandusky’s lawyers have revealed that they tried to throw in the towel as the trial began because they had too little time to prepare.
Cyprus has told the European authorities that it intends to apply for financial assistance.
Cyprus is the fifth eurozone member to do so.
It said it needs help to shore up its banks, which are heavily exposed to the Greek economy.
The announcement came on another day of nervousness about the single currency.
Shares in Italy, Spain and Greece fell sharply amid concerns that an EU summit this week will again fail to produce a deal to shore up the euro.
The Spanish prime minister called for Thursday’s European Union summit to “dispel doubts” about the euro.
The Italian and Spanish indexes both closed about 4% down. The fall on Spain’s Ibex index was exacerbated by a Reuters report that the Moody’s credit rating agency is planning to downgrade Spain’s banks.
Earlier, Spain formally requested a bailout loan for its banking sector, expected to be for up to 100 billion Euros ($125 billion).
The country needs to find about 1.8 billion Euros over the next few days to recapitalize its second largest lender, Cyprus Popular Bank.
Cyprus has told the European authorities that it intends to apply for financial assistance
In a short statement, the government said that it required assistance following “negative spillover effects through its financial sector, due to its large exposure in the Greek economy”.
A government spokesman, Stefanos Stefanou, said the amount of European aid would be subject to negotiations in the coming days.
He said that despite the request, the Cypriot government would continue negotiations for a possible loan from a country outside the EU, such as Russia or China.
The country has already borrowed 2.5 billion Euros from Russia, whose business people are important customers of Cyprus’s relatively large offshore financial sector which offers low tax rates.
Its banks have lost large amounts on Greek government bonds. They are also facing big losses on loans made to businesses in Cyprus, which have been hard hit by the deep recession in neighboring Greece, its biggest trading partner.
Credit ratings agency Fitch said the country, which has a population of one million, would need 4 billion Euros to support its banks, the equivalent of almost a quarter of its GDP, or economic output, last year.
Earlier, it cut the Cypriot government’s credit rating to junk status, making it even harder for the country to raise the funds itself.
Fears are building that this week’s two-day European Union summit could prove inconclusive.
“We must dispel doubts over the eurozone,” said Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy.
“The single currency is, must be, irreversible,” he said.
In another indication of the conflicts between European nations on the best way forward, Angela Merkel reiterated her opposition to calls to pool eurozone debt, which would make it cheaper for eurozone economies to borrow.
“There has to be a balance between guarantees and controls,” she said.
IG Index analyst Chris Beauchamp blamed Chancellor Merkel’s reluctance to share liability for eurozone debts for the share price falls.
“This was, is and will remain the fundamental issue in the crisis – Germany is understandably not keen on taking on the burden of debts built up by (as it sees it) spendthrift countries,” he said.
The problems facing Europe’s banks will be on the agenda at the summit of European leaders on 28 and 29 June.
Draft documents prepared for the meeting, which have been reported by news agencies, detail proposals for a single European banking supervisor and a common scheme for guaranteeing bank deposits.
There would also be a central fund to wind down bad banks.
Options for the regulator include having one body, possibly the European Central Bank, to oversee the continent’s biggest banks, while another watchdog supervises the day-to-day operations of all the banks.
The proposals also include closer fiscal union, with the prospect of eurozone countries sharing debt raised again.
British mathematician Max Little has come up with a non-invasive, cheap test which he hopes will offer a quick new way to identify Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s is a devastating disease for those living with the condition and currently there is no cure.
Diagnosis can also be slow as there are no blood tests to detect it.
Max Little will be kicking off the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh calling for volunteers to contribute to a huge voice database.
He has discovered that Parkinson’s symptoms can be detected by computer algorithms that analyze voice recordings.
In a blind test of voices, the system was able to spot those with Parkinson’s with an accuracy of 86%.
Max Little was recently made a TED Fellow.
The non-profit organization behind the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference creates 40 such fellowships each year. The programme aims to target innovators under the age of 40 and offers them free entry to conferences and other events.
Max Little’s technology works partly by tracking the motion of vocal cords
Max Little became interested in understanding voice from a mathematical perspective while he was studying for a PhD at Oxford University in 2003.
“I was looking for a practical application and I found it in analyzing voice disorders, for example when someone’s voice has broken down from over-use or after surgery on vocal cords,” he said.
“I didn’t occur to me at the time that people with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders could also be detected by the system.”
But a chance meeting with someone from Intel changed that.
Andy Grove, one of Intel’s founders and ex-chief executive, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2000 and has since pledged millions of his personal fortune to fund research into the disease.
This includes funds for the chipmaker to develop its own projects to monitor the symptoms.
“They were using devices that detect breakdown in dexterity and accelerometers but they had also recorded the voices of around 50 patients with Parkinson’s,” explained Max Little.
The recordings were detailed as the team had recorded the patients once a week over a six-month period.
“They had an enormous amount of data but they didn’t know what to do with it. So we wondered whether my technique would work,” said Max Little.
“They set me a blind test to see if I can tell them which ones had Parkinson’s. I had 86% accuracy using the techniques I’d developed.”
The system “learns” to detect differences in voice patterns.
“This is machine learning. We are collecting a large amount of data when we know if someone has the disease or not and we train the database to learn how to separate out the true symptoms of the disease from other factors.”
Voice patterns can change for a number of reasons, including throat surgery, heavy smoking and even just having a common cold.
But Max Little believes the system will be smart enough to tell the difference.
“It is not as simple as listening for a tremor in the voice. That tremor has to be in context of other measures and the system has to take in other factors such as if someone has a cold.”
Now he is looking for volunteers to contribute to a vast voice bank to help the database to learn even more.
He is aiming to record up to 10,000 voices and has set up local numbers in 10 countries around the world.
Anyone can call and they need to state whether or not they have been diagnosed with the disease.
There is also a website where people can find out more about the project.
“The more people that call in, the better,” he said.
“If we get 10,000 recordings we’d be very happy but even a tenth of that would be great.”
He hopes that the technology will be available to doctors within the next two years.
“We’re not intending this to be a replacement for clinical experts, rather, it can very cheaply help identify people who might be at high risk of having the disease and for those with the disease, it can augment treatment decisions by providing data about how symptoms are changing in-between check-ups with the neurologist,” he said.
There could also be a role for the technology in clinical trials.
“The technology makes it easy for people to report their progress whilst on a new drug, for example,” he added.
“If you can catch the disease early it will make a huge difference to care costs. It could become a key technology in reducing the burden of care on the NHS.”
